By Ed Goldman
SOMEDAY YOUR PRINTS WILL COME (ACTUALLY, VERY SOON)
Being framed may not sound desirable, but if you’re an artist, art collector or hotel owner who needs 1,400 prints, original art and mirrors professionally mounted, you can do no better than to contact D Oldham Neath, owner and founder of Archival Gallery and Framing.
I’m on location with Neath at Sacramento’s elegant Embassy Suites by Hilton, Sacramento Riverfront Promenade, where, for the past two decades, she and her lean crew of two fulltime and three part-time craftspeople — who included her late husband, Tom Neath, a beloved contractor and all-around handyguy—have framed and reframed “almost everything hanging” through three remodels and/or refreshes of the lodgings.
The multi-story hotel is just across the street from Old Sacramento, the historic state park, shopping mecca and entertainment district. And while it features stunning views of the iconic Tower Bridge, which connects Sacramento and Yolo counties, the hotel’s interior also offers a visual feast: paintings and sculptures from some of the numerous Northern California artists Neath represents and presents at her gallery, which celebrated its 40th anniversary just last month.
“All of the art in the public parts of the hotel and in some of the rooms are original works,” she says as she leads me on a brisk and frequently funny tour of the bustling property. Perhaps you’ve been exposed to D’s narrative gifts: she organized and emceed the annual on-air arts auction for local PBS affiliate KVIE for more than a decade, and for the past two years has been the Art Lady for CBS-TV affiliate KMAX’s popular “Good Day Sacramento” show. Taking a tour of the hotel is a little like spending time with Groucho Marx, had he opted to become a female docent.
“This,” she says, pointing to an enormous mirror, “is the heaviest and biggest #@$%*! thing I’ve ever framed,” she says. “Don’t worry. The bridge will fall down before this does.”(I’d quote some of her other remarks but out of context they could lose their spontaneous sparks.) She also shows off some of the 22,000 feet of crown molding her crew installed, allowing that her late husband, when told of the assignment he’d be undertaking, “was not a happy camper but was funny abut it. It’s pretty exacting work.”
Neath says her crew would tackle “just 10 rooms per week so we wouldn’t disturb the guests,” adding that she “usually did the installs on Mondays, which were quieter days at the hotel.”
She gives all the credit for the commitment to local artists—including Pat Mahoney, Camille Vandenburg and others—to hotel owner/developer John Kehriotis, president and founder of JMK Investments, Inc. With more than 30 years of real estate experience, he currently owns, operates or manages over 2,000 apartment units in the Bay Area and Sacramento. He’s also a minority owner of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.
Neath also points out “what a continual pleasure it’s been” working with the hotel’s general manager, Steve Mammet, since the hotel was built 21 years ago.
If you, your friends or pursuing posse need a comfortable, stylish and aesthetically stimulating place to stay in California’s capital, check out the vision and the vibe at Embassy Suites. You can find it online at https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/saceses-embassy-suites-sacramento-riverfront-promenade/ or in-person at 101 Capitol Mall.